On Sat, 13 Jul 2002 01:35:12 +0000 (UTC), cary at afone.as.arizona.edu (Cary
Kittrell) wrote:
>In article <hopems-1207022009450001 at cs6625171-151.austin.rr.com> hopems at mail.utexas.edu (Hope Munro Smith) writes:
><
><In article <3d2f507c.20059553 at news.freeserve.net>,
><angilion at ypical.fsnet.co.uk (Angilion) wrote:
[..]
><> As an aside, I have seen it hypothesised that brain mass correlates with
><> height. That would neatly explain the average difference in brain
><> mass between men and women (as an artefact of the average
><> difference in height) and the hypothesis sounds plausible. However,
><> I haven't seen any evidence for it. Do you have any?
><I'd be interested in hearing it as well. It would make
><sense that a larger body would need a larger brain to work
><its various systems, which again would prove that brain size
><says nothing about intelligence.
>That's quite standard in biology: neurological comparisons
>are always made on a brain/body mass basis, never on absolute
>brain size. (what's the smartest blue whale you've ever met?)
1) No-one has suggested trying it across different species, due
to the differences in brain structure.
2) You are making a standard argument to "prove" that
"female people are more intelligent than male people", because
the average brain mass to body mass ratio is higher in
female people than in male people. I've seen that often
enough in children's TV shows, as part of the endemic conditioning
to make male people feel inferior and female people feel
superior.
3) You are making a stupidly irrational argument to support
the prevailing sexism. By your argument, losing weight
would make a person more intelligent. Losing a lot of
weight would make them a lot more intelligent. After all, the
more weight they lost, the higher their brain mass to body mass
ratio would become. By your argument, anorexia is a sure
route to genius. A very nasty argument.
4) You appear unable to tell the difference between height
and weight.
5) You do not provide any evidence concerning the
hypothesis I mentioned, which is what I was asking for.
You just used it as a means to promote an idea which
is harmful both directly and through the sexism it promotes.
--
Always remember you're unique.
Just like everyone else. (Anon)